Title: Kingdom for a Kiss
Disclaimer: We have no affiliations with Warner Bros. Television Production, One Tree Hill or Tollin/Robbins Productions.
Summary:
Nine years ago, Brooke Davis left Tree Hill. Now she's come back to
raise her daughter in her childhood home. There's only one person who
has been there for her all along, but what will it take for her to
realize he's all the home she needs?
Author's Note: This fanfiction
is a joint effort between myself [Summer, Indian Summer] and Joan
[bibleboymary4ever]. Reviews are greatly appreciated, and will help the
second chapter come faster! This fanfiction will be centered around the
relationships between Lucas Scott, Brooke Davis and Nathan Scott. The
character Elissa Natalie Scott is all ours.
.
.
She'd told her eight year old daughter they were going home, to where Mommy had grown up. But as Brooke Davis led Elissa to Baggage Claim, she realized how false the statement had been. Tree Hill wasn't home to her, not anymore.
"Mom," Elissa called, grabbing Brooke's hand. "Look!"
Brooke scanned the crowd as Elissa pulled her to the right and her eyes locked with a blue pair. Nathan Scott. A smile spread across her face as Elissa broke away from her and ran to Nathan, encircling her arms around his waist.
She started to walk over as he picked Elissa up into a bear hug. "Nathan," she greeted, giving him a friendly hug. "Thanks for coming."
He gave her an easy smile and gestured to four suitcases on the ground next to him. "I already got your luggage for you. But come on, Brooke. Four suitcases?"
"Thanks," Brooke responded, pulling up the handle on one of the suitcases.
"There's more coming," Elissa chimed in. "Did you think we could really fit everything we own into four suitcases?"
Nathan laughed, kissing Elissa's forehead. "You're getting to be more and more like your mom everyday, you know that?"
.
.
Brooke set her suitcase down on the stoop, taking the key out of the
white envelope she had gotten it in. She turned the key into the lock
and pushed open the oversized white door. A familiar scent wafted
through the air, and she recognized it immediately as her mother's
perfume, Chanel Number Five. She bit her lip as she lifted the suitcase
up and hoisted it into the foyer.
Elissa gazed curiously around the entranceway. "So this is where you grew up?"
"Yeah," Brooke replied uneasily.
Nathan tried to brighten the mood, "Hey, remember how much fun we had here when we were kids?"
She nodded in response. "We had some crazy parties." She glanced
towards Elissa, who was now wandering around and peeking her head into
the dining and living rooms.
"You set me up with Peyton at your 13th birthday party right over there." He gestured towards the couch in the living room.
Brooke groaned, "Look how that turned out. I swear, it was the last time I ever set anyone up."
Nathan shrugged, "Nah. You set Haley and I up."
Brooke was about to respond when a buxom Hispanic woman walked in. "Miss Brooke?"
"Oh my god! Rosa! You're, like, still here!" Brooke was genuinely
surprised to see her old maid and confidante still working at the house.
"Si, senorita, Xavier and I are living in the guest house with Talia
and Margaret. He still do all the gardening and Talia still clean.
Margaret started working for your mother about three years ago, she is
a cook."
Brooke hadn't gotten over the initial shock that most
everything had stayed the same. Well, except one teeny thing. She
paused apprehensively. "Rosa—before my Mom, uh, died…did she mention
Elissa or me?"
Rosa looked upset. "She was very sad after you leave. She love you very much."
"Oh." Brooke hadn't really regretted leaving her mother until she had
died, and Brooke realized that she would never get an apology.
"Excuse me, Miss Brooke. I need to finish the bathroom." Rosa gestured toward a door before she scurried off.
Brooke turned back towards Nathan. "So, can you stay for a bit? Talk?"
He pushed the sleeve of his shirt up as he checked the time on his
wristwatch. "Yup, Haley doesn't expect me home for another twenty
minutes."
Brooke walked toward the couch and Nathan sat down beside her.
"Kay. So how's everything going?"
"I'm good. Haley's good."
"Did you try the whole therapy thing like I suggested?"
He scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, you know how she is. We went to
a few sessions but…" His voice trailed off and she couldn't help but
notice how lost he looked, like the little boy she had once known.
"Okay…"
"Yeah, whatever." Nathan tried to shrug it off.
"How's work?"
"It's good. You'll never guess who I just signed a five year contract with!"
"Who?"
"Lancome Cosmetics."
"Nate!" She squealed, "That's great!"
"Yeah," he nodded. "Oh, so I got you a job working on their print ads.
I know it's a little different than what you were doing for me in
London, but you'll catch on quickly."
"Okay. Thanks soooo much, you know I owe you majorly."
"Yeah, you do." Nathan grinned.
Brooke glanced towards the clock on the wall. "It's 3:50; you should probably get home or Haley will worry."
"You're right. Sorry, Brooke. Tell Liss I said bye, kay?"
"Kay. Bye." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left, firmly shutting the door behind him.
.
.
Nathan returned to his modest two story home in a much better mood than
he'd been in the last few weeks. "Hales, I'm home," he called, kicking
off his shoes.
He heard a muffled reply from their room and
headed up the stairs. "I had to go to the office," he said as he
reached the room, cracking the door open. "I'm sorry I didn't call. I
was-" He stopped as he saw her kneeling by the bed with a shoebox in
her hands. "What are you doing?"
She looked toward him slowly,
a pained expression on her face. "Who is this?" she asked, taking a
picture from the box and holding it up for him to see.
Nathan froze. "Where did you find those?"
"I was looking for an old dress, and I found them in the back corner of the closet."
Nathan took the picture from her and placed it back in the box. "You
weren't supposed to see these," he said quietly, closing the box.
"Who is she, Nathan? Why were you hiding them from me?"
He wasn't sure how to respond. The shoebox was full of all the letters
and pictures Brooke had sent and Elissa's drawings. He'd never expected
Haley to find them. "It's not like that, Haley. I wasn't hiding them."
"Is she your daughter?" A single tear slipped down Haley's cheek and she wiped it away quickly.
Nathan sighed. "Hales…"
"This copy of her birth certificate, Nathan. She'd be eight years old.
Has our whole marriage been a lie? Have you been running off to your
other family every time you tell me you're going away on business? Is
that what this is about?"
"Haley, I swear this isn't what it looks like…"
Haley's gaze hardened and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Then
tell me what it looks like, Nathan. Because to me, it seems like you've
been keeping in very close contact with Brooke Davis. And your
daughter."
"Haley…"
Haley shook her head, no longer
trying to hold back her tears. "Every time I apologized to you, Nathan,
and told you I was sorry I couldn't give you kids. All of those times
you just sat there, knowing you already had one!"
He wished she'd yell or hit him or do anything other than this. "Haley, this isn't-"
"Get out of my house, Nathan. Get out now!"
Nathan bowed his head and left the room as Haley's lip quivered and she sank onto the bed. No one could say they hadn't tried.
.
.
Nathan pressed down on the doorbell, listening as the sound rang
throughout the house. Rosa opened the door, smiling at him. He opened
his mouth to thank her as Brooke bounded down the stairs.
"Hey Christopher Robin! Back so soon? What, you couldn't get enough of
the fabulous Davis family?" She was grinning, and he was struck by how
carefree she looked. She had changed into black sweatpants and a pink
tank top, and her hair was loosely pulled back into a ponytail. Brooke
looked more like the 24 year old she was than the mother of an eight
year old.
Nathan swayed in his position in front of the door.
"Well, yeah, Pooh. Just had to make sure you hadn't ran back off to
London." He was joking, but Brooke could sense a tone of sadness in his
voice, and she knew something was up.
She cocked one eyebrow up into the air. "Seriously, Nate, what's up?"
"Uh…Haley just kicked me out." Nathan couldn't believe it had actually
happened. They had always fought but they tried so hard to salvage
their marriage. He had truly believed that they could live happily ever
after. Maybe he was wrong.
"Oh my god! What happened? It's only been like half an hour."
"She found my Liss box." He reflected on how stupid it had been of him
to hide all of those treasures in plain view. Maybe he should have
gotten a safe at the bank.
"Aw, you have a box for Elissa?"
"Yeah, it had all the letters you sent me...the scrapbook with all her pictures…the drawings and she made me…"
Brooke bit her lip, suddenly feeling very guilty. "So, it's basically my fault that you're homeless?"
"No! You know Elissa needs me. I need you both just as much." He
paused. "Haley didn't even give me a chance to explain the truth. She
just wanted to wallow in the fact that I had a secret. But you know
what? It's not my secret. It's yours." He shook his head. "No, Brooke,
you didn't do anything wrong. All you've done is loved your kid."
She gave him a weak smile, as her eyes welled up. "I don't know, Natie.
I think moving back here was a huge mistake. My Dad's in London,
Elissa's friends, her school…our lives aren't in Tree Hill anymore. We
haven't even been here an hour and already our presence is causing
problems!" She tried to laugh, but the situation was all too serious.
"Your Mom wanted you to come back."
Brooke rolled her eyes. "She's dead. Besides, she's had nine years to
forgive me. She wanted me to have an abortion! She wanted to kill
Elissa! No one can hurt my baby girl. No one." Nathan knew this was a
sore subject. Brooke had had a rocky childhood, and she desperately
wanted her daughter's to be different. "But, whatever, right? What's
done is done. It's all in the past now." She blinked away the tears,
hoping her mascara wouldn't run.
She tried to calm down and
speak rationally. "You can stay here, with us. There's plenty of guest
rooms, it would be stupid not to use one."
Nathan smiled in return, and she felt her heart ache. "Thanks."
Brooke tried to shrug it off. "It's no big deal." But it was.
Brooke could no longer stop the tears as they started to stream down
her face. She gave him a tight smile as black streaks of mascara
spilled onto her cheeks. Nathan leaned over and gave her a tight hug,
not caring that her tears and makeup were staining his cashmere
sweater. Brooke was a mess when she was upset, but Nathan didn't mind.
She was always beautiful to him.
.
.
Whenever something
had gone wrong in her life, Haley had always turned to Lucas. So after
Nathan left, Haley had immediately called Lucas and crying, had asked
him to come over. He'd arrived within ten minutes.
Now, sitting
at her dining room table with Lucas, Haley wasn't sure if she'd done
the right thing. Was it fair to drag Lucas into this? Brooke had been
his girlfriend.
"Haley, what happened? You know you can tell me." His voice was gentle and his eyes prodding.
"I don't know, Lucas. I'm going to file for divorce."
Lucas didn't try to contest this. He just looked at her with a silent understanding. "What happened?"
Haley shook her head angrily, thinking of what she'd felt when she
found the box. "Our whole marriage was a lie, Lucas." She ran a tissue
under her eyes, sopping up her tears before she looked back at him. "He
has a kid."
Lucas' eyes widened. "Haley, are you sure? Maybe you just misunderstood."
Haley smiled sadly. "There's nothing to misunderstand, Lucas. I asked
him and he couldn't even deny it. She's eight years old. Which means
she would've been conceived around the time we got married."
"Wow." Lucas scratched the top of his head, clearly surprised. "Where is she? Whose is she?"
"Her name's Elissa Natalie. She lives in London with her mom. I found a bunch of letters and stuff. He visits them, Lucas."
"God, Haley."
"There's more, Lucas." She paused, looking him straight in the eyes. "Her mother is Brooke Davis."
